Oliva
Professor
English 2030-021
February 22, 2012
The Short Happy Life of Louise Mallard“The Story of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin displays the internal battle of Mrs. Mallard and her struggle with independence. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Mrs. Mallard’s negative outlook on her life and marriage suddenly changed into a confident and independent glimpse of the future. What was initially a negative outlook on matrimony, quickly developed into a confident and independent demeanor. The audience is vividly exposed to Mrs. Mallards change in identity regarding her role as a woman, and her optimism. The reader experiences a rapid transformation of wife to woman through Chopin’s creative use of irony and symbolism, alongside a theme of co-dependency and feminism.

From start to finish, Chopin supplies the reader with a descriptive glimpse into what is going on in the mind of the main character, instantly trapping her audience. Most captivating, however, was the creative use of different symbolisms to give the main character as well as the reader, support by foreshadowing a positive outcome. These symbolisms can be located in almost every other sentence. I will touch on a few of which I found to be the greatest supporting roles of symbolism. Chopin sets up “The Story of an Hour” with a brief introduction of the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard, who has an ongoing struggle with heart trouble. The reader is given a vision that Mrs. Mallard is a sensitive and soft hearted woman, and depending on the interpretation of the reader, the first hint of symbolism is introduced. Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition insists on a gentle disclosure of the recent news of her husband’s confirmed death in a train accident. Once told, “She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance.” (para. 3) This throws a sudden twist, and leaves the audience to ponder what happens next. Mrs. Mallard quickly disappears by herself into...

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...Page 1
English 102 – DL
27 January 2013
Assignment 1 – Response Paper
“The Story of An Hour” written by Kate Chopin all takes place within a one hour time period. During this time Mrs. Mallard is informed of her husband, Brently Mallards, death by her sister and her husband’s friend. After hearing the news of her husband’s death Mrs. Mallard retreats to her room where she ponders her newly found fate. At the realization that she no longer has to live for anyone but herself Mrs. Mallard is overcome with a monstrous joy. After being pressed by her sister Mrs. Mallard starts to come down the stairs right as her husband, who in fact is not dead, is walking in. Mrs. Mallard then collapses to the floor. Dead. “When the doctors came in they said she had died of heart disease-of joy that kills.” (Kirszner and Mandell 116)The term “of joy that kills” can be understood in two different ways. One way is that she was so over joyed to see her husband again that the pure happiness she felt killed her. Another way to look at the last line is that when she saw her husband again she felt such a grave disappointment because of the fact that she would again be subjected to live under his rule that she died.
The joy that killed Mrs. Mallard can be her tremendously exciting feelings when her husband reappeared before her eyes, completely unexpected. Deep down in her heart, she loved her husband though living with him made her...

...27, 2008
Response #2
Response #2
In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, there are many literary elements that make it very diverse from most short storied about a husband and wife. The author uses similes, metaphors, and much irony throughout the story that gives it the strange but interesting meaning it portrays. The literary terms in this story allow the reader to feel the emotion of the character, and the irony enhances the bitter-sweetness of the ending.
This short story is about an hour in the life of the main character, Mrs. Millard. She has a heart problem and bad news has come about that her husband has died in a train accident. Her sister Josephine and her husband’s friend Richard, have to break the terrible news to her as gently as possible. They both were concerned that the news might put her in great danger with her health. Ironically, Mrs. Millard reacts to the news with excitement. Even though the news is heartbreaking she is finally free from the depressing life she was living. She keeps whispering "Free! Body and soul free!” (Roberts 266) She now is happy because she doesn't have to live for anyone but herself now. At the end of the story, Mr. Millard comes home from work, opens the door and is surprised by Josephine's cry. Mr. Millard did not have any idea about the accident.
With a quick motion, Richard...

...A response to “The Story of An Hour” By Kate Chopin
Kate Chopin’s short story titled “The Story of An Hour” focuses on the life-changing events that transpire within an hour in the life of a certain Louise Mallard, before ultimately leading to her demise. The story begins as the news of her husband’s death is broken to Mrs. Mallard, with utmost care, as apparently she suffers from a heart disease.
Although, over stricken with grief and sadness at first, soon she comes to accept the incident with surprising nonchalance. Even worse, this nonchalance soon transforms into ecstasy, or “monstrous joy” according to her, as she realizes that now she is completely free, free from all her conjugal duties, free from the overbearing influence of her husband, and most importantly free to lead her life the way she wishes. Although at first, she herself is repulsed by the very idea, soon she comes to accept and even enjoy it. However, as she slowly comes to term with the notion of this new found freedom and confidence, and decides that she is ready to face the world on her own- this apparently new world, full of wonders and little surprises that she never before had the opportunity to notice or relish- the story ends with a twist. It just so happens that Mr. Mallard was never even near the sight of the accident that was thought to have ended his life. And as...

...“The Story of an Hour” Critical Response
In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the actions and thoughts of Mrs. Mallard are prompted by the setting. The author effectively uses these literary devices in a way that leads the reader to believe something that actually is not true. The first way the author does this is when she puts us in a sad and lonely setting right from the start. The author creates a mood that is typical of a death in the family by emphasizing how lonely Mrs. Mallard is. She is “pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.” At this point we believe that Mrs. Mallard is depressed but when she becomes aware of the “new spring life” out the window her attitude is changed. The author has successfully used the setting of a small room and spring life to shift the mindset of Mrs. Mallard and the reader. The scene of spring life represents the possibility of starting fresh and Mrs. Mallard now realizes she is no longer tied down to one man. I believe that if the setting was more open and dark, Mrs. Mallard would have continued to express the emotions that she did at the beginning of the story. This may have also resulted in her death but instead of disappointment it would have been “of joy that kills.”
The final way that the author uses setting and the thoughts of Mrs. Mallard to lead the reader to believe something that...

...Freedom
“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is a short story with complicated characterization through a feminist lens of marriage by presenting the reader with a woman who is overjoyed that her husband has died. Nonetheless, the reaction of the main character Mrs. Mallard was not one that most women would have. When you read deeper into the story, you can find that Mrs. Mallard was intriguing with the emotional and psychological changes that occur upon hearing the dreadful news of her husband’s death.
Kate Chopin described vividly and wrote, "She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms" (Chopin, 15), I felt the sense of emotional and she was incredibly sad associated with her husband. Once she calms down, she felt released. However, unlike typical reaction of being saddened by the loss of a loved one, she relieved when she was alone in her room, whispering “Free, free, free” (Chopin, 15). She realizes she can live for herself, “There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature” (Chopin, 16). It is apparent that she was dissatisfied with her marriage because her freedom was oppressed to a white man that held all of the control in the relationship under the feminist literary criticism of her life.
The story ends with Mrs. Mallard’s death of heart attack...

...Kyona Stephens
1/16/14
Period 6- English IV Honors
Dr.Freeman
The story of an hour by Kate Chopin is about how a woman feels about her husband's death.
The death of her husband makes her happy because marriage confined her and she wasn't
able to be free.
In this short story, the main character Mrs.Mallard shows emotions and support about what
has just happened in her life. When she finds out in the beginning about her husband's death
It's natural for her to be upset with the death of her husband, but it was her sister who broke
the news to her. From the beginning of the story, Kate makes it clear that Mrs.Mallard has
heart problems which is some ways makes her weak, adding to the news of her husband.
Another way that Mrs.Mallard is seen as the "weaker" sex is because she goes to her room
alone to continue her grief. When she goes in the room, in the story it says that "into
this she sank, pressed down by a a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed
to reach her soul". (Kate Chopin 145) In this scene, this shows that her strong emotions
caused her physical exhaustion. Once her emotions are no longer present within her,
Mrs.Mallard begins to appear as a stronger woman which is where the feminist cristism
takes effect. Later on as shes's in her room, she looks through the large open window
which signifies the open opportunities...

...Literary Elements in The Story of an Hour
In Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of an Hour” she uses different kinds of literary elements to clearly define her story and to show all of the meanings behind what happens in the story. There are many different kinds of literary elements used in this short story but I believe the most important one is irony. Irony is what she used the most throughout the story all the way into the conclusion which was by the far what gave the story a tragic and ironic ending. If she did not use all of the literary elements that were used in this story then the story would not be a whole and it wouldn’t all come together and make sense. It would be more dull and completely uninteresting and confusing. The literary elements used in this short story help make it surprisingly unpredictable and help it all come together in the end. If you took irony out of the story then there would literally be no point to the story. It would just be a boring thing to read with an ending that’s predictable and dull. The only surprising thing to this story which gave it a little bit of livelihood was the ending and if that wasn’t such an ironic part of the story then this wouldn’t even be considered a short...

...﻿Kelly Tran
Professor Newcomb
English 2201 Section 016
October 8, 2014
One Dramatic and Tragic Hour of a Woman
“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin
In this short story—literally because the story happened within an hour, Kate Chopin manages to let her readers contemplate on the roles of women, more particularly in a marital status. Chopin delivers her point by creating a story about how a woman deals with the death of her spouse. This situation gives readers a prediction, and that is how the widow will mourn for her husband or how she cannot live without him because a woman needs a man to be structured, simply by the way society depicts women. The story takes an unexpected turn when the woman feels a slight and strange joy that overwhelms her. As Chopin describes it, “a monstrous joy” that will soon be the death of her (Kate Chopin). Chopin left her audience with a sense of irony; moreover, she included many symbols, imagery, as well as themes in this story.
The story starts off by foreshadowing the death of the main character, Louise Mallard of having heart trouble. Death is a theme that circulates throughout the story and lasted to the very end. During the story, Louise is grieving over the news that her husband had died; however, minutes later she looks at his accident as a good thing. With her new...

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